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The hottest month of the year brings annual
plants bursting into flower turning your garden into a riot of
colour. You may be astonished at just how enormous some of your
perennials and shrubs have grown – make a note now so that you
can move any overcrowded plants in the autumn or next spring.
Unfortunately, all sorts of pests and diseases are likely to
flourish in the warm weather, so make sure you keep plants well
fed and watered. A plant under stress is more liable to succumb to
infection. If you find your borders flagging in the sun, water
them very well before mulching with bark or gravel from the J
Arthur Bower range.
ESSENTIAL JOBS CHECKLIST FOR
JULY
- Prune shrubs that have flowered and feed
them
- Take cuttings from many shrubs and
alpines
- Water containers every day in hot weather
- Water borders if necessary, then mulch
- Clear excess pondweed
- Spray roses and feed
- Dead-head perennials and annuals unless
you want to save seed
- Plant leeks and winter brassicas
- Prune trained fruit trees
Last Chance To…
Sow biennials
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TOPICAL TIPS FOR JULY
- Carry on pruning shrubs that flowered in
spring and early summer, then feed them with one of the J
Arthur Bower's all-purpose plant foods. It's worth watering
well and mulching them even at this stage in the year.
- Cut down the stems of bearded iris now
that the blooms have faded. If the clumps are very congested
dig them up and divide, cutting the rhizomes at a joint. Trim
back the leaves to 15 cm (6 inches). Replant in ordinary
garden soil with a bit of J Arthur Bower's grit added, and
water in. Continue to water until established.
- Pinch out chrysanthemum shoot tips to
encourage them to branch and produce more flowering stems.
- Remove seeds heads of annuals to
encourage the plant to produce more flowers
- If your dahlias aren't growing very
strongly, give them a boost with some J Arthur Bower's Liquid
Growmore every 10-14 days.
- Some early-flowering perennials,
particularly lupins and delphiniums, can be encouraged to
produce a second, smaller, flush of flowers if you cut the
stems right down and apply a liquid feed.
- Take cuttings of non-flowering shoots
from many shrubs, putting them round the edge of small pots of
half and half peat and sharp sand or peat and perlite. Water
them in and keep warm but out of direct sun. Cuttings can also
be taken of pinks.
- This is the best month to trim hawthorn
hedges. If you cut them earlier they need another trim, but if
you leave it any later the growth will be very tough and hard
to cut.
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- Continue to trim back and feed roses that
have finished their first flush of blooms
- Spray as necessary against pests and
diseases
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- Hopefully, all that hard work you did in
the spring will have paid off, and your lawn will be looking
green and velvety. If not, there's still time to use any of
the wide range of J Arthur Bower's weedkillers, mosskillers
and feeds. You should continue to feeds your lawn, and try to
mow it twice a week if you can, though once a week will be OK.
Don't add the clippings to the compost heap for the first few
weeks after applying weedkillers.
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- Never let your grow-in bags go short of
water as you may find it hard to re-wet them thoroughly
- Plants in pots may need watering every
day, and should be fed once a fortnight with a liquid feed
- If whitefly and red spider mite are
proving a problem, it is now possible to obtain biological
controls, which can be used this month.
- Tomatoes should start fruiting this
month. Keep the plants well supported and remove side shoots
regularly. Use J Arthur Bower's Liquid Tomato Feed every week
to ensure a bumper crop.
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- Water containers every day in hot
weather. Hanging baskets can be watered twice a day if you've
got them time and energy. Feed all containers once a week with
J Arthur Bower's Liquid Hanging Basket & Container Liquid
Feed
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- Carry on sowing salad crops outside.
French beans can also be sown at the beginning of the month
for a late crop.
- Onions will need a lot of water at this
time of year or the yield will be greatly reduced. Weeds will
compete for every drop of water, so keep on hoeing around your
onions to keep weeds at bay
- Complete planting out young leeks
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- Continue to harvest herbs for drying or
freezing
- The first week of the month is usually
the best time to cut lavender for drying. Cut the hole stalk
as soon as the flowers show colour, but before they are fully
open. Tie them in small bundles and hang in a greenhouse or
warm shed or porch to dry. Alternatively you could lay them in
trays in the airing cupboard. When the flower buds are
completely dry, rub them gently off the stalks. Use in muslin
bags or small bowls
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- Trained fruit trees, such as cordons,
fans, dwarf pyramids and espaliers should be trimmed of any
unwanted shoots this month
- Pick blackcurrants as soon as they ripen.
Growth being made now will produce next year's crop so keep
bushes watered in dry weather and give them a handful of
all-purpose plant food
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- Waterlilies should be flowering now, so
if you want to buy new plants, now's the time to make your
choice. Waterlilies come in all sorts of different sizes –
there are even miniature ones suitable for container pools.
Make sure you get the right size for your water feature
- If aphids are a problem on waterlily
foliage try and knock them off with water spray from a
hosepipe. Don't use a greenfly killer anywhere near a pond as
it will harm fish and wildlife
- Thin out oxygenating plants taking care
not to remove young fish, water snails or froglets with the
excess. The best way to do this is to check through the
pondweed carefully, then lay it out in bundles around the
sides of the pond and leave it overnight. This will give
little creatures a chance to slither back into the water
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- If mounded or trailing plants seem not to
be flourishing after flowering give them a top dressing of J
Arthur Bower's peat and Silvaperl silver sand mixed half and
half with a dusting of Fish, Blood and Bone. Work this mixture
into the plant then water well and dress with Silvaperl coarse
grit
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NEED MORE HELP?
Look at our information pages. The aim is to
cut out the mystique that surrounds many common tasks, and to
explain in a simple way, why and how to do them. This way, we hope
to help you enjoy your garden more, and get the best out of it.
Under each topic, you'll also find a guide
to the wide range of J Arthur Bower's products available to help
you with that particular task. The choice is yours.
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